Marathonpalooza Part 2: Running the New York City Marathon!

WARNING: LONG & with photo overload! For the Marathonpalooze Part 1: MCM recap, click here.

Wow, where do I start with this one? The entire weekend was such an experience and I know I won’t be able to do it justice. The marathon consumed the entire city for the entire weekend – it was so cool to be a part of it, and to travel specifically for this purpose. I love Marine Corps Marathon, but since it’s a hometown marathon, a little of that excitement doesn’t exist (for me).

Brian and I flew in on Friday night and stayed at one of the host hotels, Sheraton Times Square. The location was pretty convenient for all marathon-related (and tourist-related!) activities; there were shuttles to everything we needed!

We spent Saturday morning at the expo, which was HUGE and so well-run. It was in the Javits Center which is basically all windows, so it was a bright, open venue. We got there pretty early, and even though it was crowded, we had tons of room to move around and wander. The guy who handed me my bib ran Marine Corps Marathon the week before previously, so it was sort of fun to chat with him about how hard the race was due to weather and other factors. MCM should really take a page from NYCM’s book and ditch the Armory in favor of a larger, airier, and more well-lit location. Another super fun aspect of this expo was that I could pick up my Asics mini-marathoner! Asics customized a limited number of mini-marathoners, and I was lucky enough to be chosen! The mini-marathoners were also spotlighted on a billboard in Times Square!

Get Your New York On

It all starts in Staten Island

Ahh, reaching the finish

Course Map

Get Your Unstoppable On

My Asics mini-marathoner!

After the expo, we wandered around Broadway and Times Square a little bit where we carb-loaded & went to see my mini-marathoner on the big screen before heading back to the hotel for an early bedtime. Thank God for the extra hour of sleep that weekend because the next day was a long one.

We Are Marathoners

My mini-marathoner in action

Hooray!

I joked with one of my friends that there needs to be a manual written about the down & dirty of NYCM (and I’m sure there is something out there) because people only see the exciting parts of it, but not the parts where you sit outside in the freezing cold on Wadsworth Island for four hours before you start. My start time was 10:30am, and my bus was scheduled to leave at 6am. We got there at 6:30am, quickly made it through security, and did a whole lot of waiting in that now infamous wind. I am glad I wasn’t putting much pressure on myself for this race because I don’t know how people keep their heads in the game after a wait like that. It was a good time to make lots of new friends, including people I’d “met” on message boards (hi, Abbie!). Despite the long wait times, everything was organized perfectly and logistics were a breeze.

When it was finally my turn to start, I started getting really excited (and nervous!). Standing at the foot of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge surrounded by other runners and listening to “New York, New York” was amazing! It was hard not to get into it after that…in fact, it was a little TOO hard because I went out a little too fast and had to keep telling myself to reign it in. I’m sure part of it was just me wanting to get off that bridge and away from the wind ASAP. By now, everyone knows that the weather for NYCM this year left a bit to be desired because of how windy it was. Well, everyone definitely felt the wind on the bridge, and even though the view was beautiful, I think we all missed it because we didn’t want to expose our face to the brutal wind. It was so harsh that I kept tripping over myself just because my foot would crash into my other leg. You could feel yourself being pushed over by the wind, and everyone’s throwaway clothes were swirling and flying all over the place. Despite treading carefully over the bridge, I hit my first 5K at around a 9:40 pace.

After the bridge, we hit Brooklyn, where we’d spend a good part of the first half of the race. Brooklyn was so fun, and there were people everywhere. There was even a church that had all of its members outside cheering us on. SO MUCH FUN. I hit my 10K at an hour on the dot, so still a sub 10 pace, but I consciously tried to slow it down here. I hit my 15K at 1:36, so still a good time, but definitely slower than I started out which is what I wanted.

Unfortunately, it was around that time (miles 9-10) that it all started going downhill. After MCM, my left ankle bothered me a little bit, but I didn’t think anything of it because it wasn’t the foot that bothered my during training, so I thought it just needed rest. By Tuesday it was swollen, so I iced, elevated, wrapped, & rested it for the whole week in preparation for NYCM. It seemed to get better enough, and even though it was still a little sore on marathon morning, I thought it would be something that would dissipate after a few miles (like so many little pains do). If only that were the case, but it wasn’t! I ended up at a medical tent right before the halfway point because it started becoming so painful that I couldn’t put weight on it while running. At that point, I really didn’t know if I’d finish the race, and told Brian so via text.

The second I walked into the medical tent, they asked me what was wrong and I just burst into tears. It took me a minute or so to finally get out what was wrong, and they sat me down to look at it. It was swollen, so they iced it and inquired whether I was going to go back out there (duh, yes I was). They told me that after looking at it, I shouldn’t really put too much hard effort in to finish. One of the aid attendants came up to me and said, “Are you wearing new shoes today?” I seriously almost slapped her for asking me that question, and I know I gave her the biggest side-eye before saying, “Of course I’m not wearing new shoes to a marathon…” After sitting for what seemed like forever and being ignored by everyone there, I decided to have them wrap it and be on my way because they clearly weren’t going to be of any more help to me!

From then on, the rest of the marathon was just a massive struggle-fest. I ran until I couldn’t stand the pain anymore, and then I walked…rinse, repeat and alternate with some tears. I tried so hard to enjoy what I could, but it was cold and windy and I was hurting. I was counting down to mile 16 when I’d finish crossing the Queensboro Bridge, get to Manhattan, and see Brian. Except that it never happened. I did successfully cross the bridge & made it to Manhattan, but I didn’t see Brian, and that was a downer. Eventually he texted & we planned to meet up at mile 22 before heading into Central Park. Okay, something else to look forward to!

The next 6 miles when pretty much how the last few had gone: run, limp, walk, cry a little, try to high five little kids, etc. The crowds were awesome, the other marathoners were pretty awesome, the volunteers were awesome (seriously awesome)…I just wish I could have enjoyed it more instead of wishing so hard for it to be done! And, after counting down from mile 16 to mile 24, I MISSED BRIAN AGAIN. I’d like to think it was because I was moving too fast for him, but HA HA, that was not the case this time around! I wasn’t as sad about it this time around because I knew I only had TWO MILES left! Even though I was really struggling at that point, there was no way I was going to backtrack once I suspected I had passed him.

Everyone was struggling during these last two miles in Central Park (which felt so so so long), and there was a lot of camaraderie. I was still crying off and on because I was in so much pain, and ended up next to a tall Dutch man who just looked at me and patted my shoulder in solidarity. It was so nice to feel like we were all in it at once. The crowds at that point were cheering loudly too but a lot were saying things like, “don’t give up!” or “run, everyone!” Well, I am a HUGE proponent of finishing strong the last mile or two, but sometimes you are injured and just cannot do it, so those cheers were pissing me off. I did make more of an effort to run more than walk in those stretches, but I thought my ankle was going to fall off my leg.

The second I finished, I burst into tears again (not just the passive, pathetic crying that I had done ohhh, the entire second half of the marathon), and a guy right after the finish said, “YOU ARE HAPPY, RIGHT?!” I mean, I guess so, but mostly I was just in pain and so relieved to be done…or so I thought. The walk out of Central Park to get to your non-baggage ponchos (awesome, by the way) was SO LONG. I finished in the daylight, and didn’t meet up with Brian until the sun had set. Unlike after MCM, I wasn’t disappointed in myself, but really just in so much pain that I wanted to find him and leave. After the mile or two walk out of Central Park, we got our ponchos and had to walk another 10 or so blocks to get to family meet-up. My ankle was killing me at that point and I wanted to go to the medical tent again, but it was still in a restricted access area, so I opted to bypass it and head straight to Brian…well, I had to take a lot of sitting breaks, ha.

I finally got to him & made him snap a picture through tears before walking another mile and a half to the hotel (which took forever because roads were closed and I was hobbling and stopping for breaks the whole way).

YAY OMG I AM DONE WTF DID I IUST DO?

I was so so so so so so so so so happy to get back to the hotel to rest, eat, ice, shower, & thaw out because it had been the world’s longest day. The situation sucked, but I was proud that I had powered through. The orthopedist that I visited this past week, though, may not agree with that! He sent me for x-rays of my ankle which showed tenodonitis for sure, and because my ankle was still swollen (even a week later), he prescribed anti-inflammatory meds and sent me for an MRI this past Thursday to see if it’s a stress fracture or ruptured posterior tibial tendon. Oof. We’ll see what the prognosis is tomorrow (Monday) morning. It’s still a little swollen, even after a week on anti-inflammatories. I am just ready to run again and am getting antsy!

The rest of our weekend in NYC was so fun! We went back to Central Park (via taxi, ha ha) the next day for Marathon Monday, hung out in Times Square more, went to the 9/11 museum & memorial, and GOT TO SEE JIMMY FALLON. Uhhh, SO AWESOME. And we got home just in time to vote :). The only thing I am sad we didn’t get to do is to see a show on Broadway. Next time, because even though I had a really tough race, part of me is so determined to make it back to NYC next year to do it all again!

Marathonpalooza Part 1: Marine Corps Marathon 2014

Hi, everyone. It’s only been about 4 months since I posted last…oops. Anyway, that four months consisted of lots of long runs and not quite hitting my weekday mileage like I needed to, and oh, a half marathon, a ten-miler, and two marathons.

Marine Corps Marathon did not go nearly as well for me this year as it did last year. We stayed at the Fisher House team hotel, Key Bridge Marriott, and they placed us right next to an elevator. I am a light sleeper, and that elevator was LOUD. Those two things meant that I got almost no sleep whatsoever. Okay, fine – that alone wouldn’t kill my race, even if it made me crabby. When I woke up, though, my mind was just not into it. Before leaving Brian, I started crying and said, “I just don’t want to do this. I should be home with Caroline on her birthday.”

Eventually I tried to shake it off and headed to the team hotel with the Fisher House group. I met up with my running buddy, Danny, and some of my Fisher House teammates there and headed to the start. I was secretly hoping to hit 4:15 but the main goal was to finish in good enough shape to take on New York City the next weekend. I started the race feeling pretty achy and crampy & not knowing why. Unlike last year when miles 1-21 seemed easy and fun, these miles seemed really hard. I was not enjoying it, and despite starting in a faster corral, we were still maintaining the same pace we maintained last year through the first 5k (which is pretty much dictated by the crowd of runners around you). That was really frustrating to me.

At the halfway mark, I kept telling Danny to go ahead because every part of me was aching and sore already, and I had no clue why. I was really needing a Brian sighting SOON. Eventually we separated, and I struggled through the next 2-3 miles until I saw Brian. I begged him to take me home because I just didn’t want to be there, but he sent me on my way and told me I would really regret not finishing. Okay, fine, I headed off again towards the National Mall. The first 20K was actually okay, but the rest of it was a struggle pace-wise. I made sure to up my fuel intake and that seemed to help a little bit because the next time I saw him, I was a little more peppy. AND I had a Bart Yasso sighting! Woohoo! My first (and hopefully not last!) one! I trudged through the mall with the sole goal of making it to the Bridge on time. I knew that once I made it there, I could technically walk the rest of the way and still finish, and I found that comforting, even though I didn’t walk the rest of the way!

Long story short, the bridge sucked, as it always does. It was hot and hard and I just wanted a water stop! Two Fisher House teammates caught up with me and helped keep me sane, at least, until I decided to head off on my own once we got into Rosslyn. Rosslyn was good for making other runner friends, because we were all suffering by that point. I even ran into an amazing Fisher House volunteer who saw me and told me I looked great, but I looked at her and said, “I think I might cry.” She was awesome and said, “well, then you cry! Look how far you came, you can do whatever you want!” She walked with me for a block or two until I felt ready to run again…such a wonderful person!

The rest of Rosslyn was sort of a blur (except the donuts), and I remember heading into the Pentagon the same way we did it for Army 10-miler. The tunnel heading out of the Pentagon and up towards the finish was just a wind tunnel. It was crazy! I saw Brian one more time before hitting the finish, and I had the pleasure of the Fisher House hill runner coming down to meet me at the base of the Iwo Jima hill to run with me up towards the finish. I promise I was running up it even if I was alone! 🙂

I was so upset by this entire MCM performance. I was feeling so off and in pain and I couldn’t put my finger on why, but I knew I didn’t want to push too much because I wanted to stay in one piece for NYCM. My head was not in it, my body was not in it, and I was just over it before it even started. The weather was HOT (70 degrees at the finish), sunny, and windy – the perfect storm for dehydration. Apparently, this was the slowest-run MCM in 10 years, and the weather definitely had something to do with it. The wind dries all your sweat, so you don’t even feel like you are dehydrated until it was too late. On top of that, when I got home, I realized why I had felt so off during the entire race: I had gotten my period right smack dab in the middle of the marathon! Once I realized that, I felt a little better about everything that had happened, and even laughed, albeit a TINY bit. Way to keep me humble, universe!

No photos, because, well, I didn’t have a good time, so I didn’t take many. I didn’t really feel like this was a huge accomplishment, though I guess just finishing it was. I am ready to move forward and maybe try again next year…orrrrr maybe I will just stick with the 10K (especially if the marathoners keep getting poop brown shirts).

The long holiday weekend (and Firecracker 5K results)

There is truly nothing better than a long weekend without any crazy plans, and that is exactly what our 4th of July weekend was like! The big focus for us was lots of relaxed family time, especially since military life will strike again soon!

We started off the long weekend with Potomac River Running’s Firecracker 5K and kids’ fun run in Reston followed by a delicious brunch with our friends. This was SO much fun and was my second sub-8 min/mile 5K race. Splits were 8:04 min/mile, 7:24 min/mile (!!!), and 7:44 min/mile and I was mere seconds from a PR, but this was just the confidence/motivation-boosting race that I needed after an “eh” spring race season. Oh – and we even had a Duggar sighting!

Anna Duggar & her media entourage!!

Ready to run!

Nostril shot

🙂

I love these action shots from the kids’ fun run! Audrey is running like the wind! It was only a moment later that Caroline ended up face first in the pavement, but she rebounded quickly 😉

After the race and brunch, we had a neighborhood parade to participate in! It didn’t take long before Audrey realized we did it all wrong – we shouldn’t have walked IN the parade because no one throws candy to the parade participants! Despite this, it was a fun time…well, at least until our nap-deprived children were tired of being in the sun and started throwing some fits…

We spent the rest of the day hanging out, grilling, and having mini-fireworks displays with the girls. They are so easy to please at this age – love it! Actually, that is basically how we spent the rest of the weekend, too, and it was glorious! The weather was wonderful so we spent about 80% of our time outside. It’s too bad summer won’t stay like this.

Marathon training went well this past week with no missed runs – hooray! My long run was a beautiful trail run that I actually enjoyed. It was nice to go out and not care about pace but instead try to enjoy it.

Week 2 training & the hiccups (or kidney stones) that accompanied it

I knew going into last week’s training that it was probably not going to be my best training week in terms of hitting all the miles required, but I had no idea it would turn out the way it did! Last week was busy for me in terms of class & assignments, and since that is my top priority right now and it’s sooooo early in the training cycle, I was okay with it. I missed my Sunday 9-miler because I was on a home visit – I always feel blah about missing a long run, but it is what it is! I intended to do a second 5-miler this week as well but didn’t get to it. Oh well. Here’s what the week looked like:

Sun: no run

Mon: 3.1 at 8:48 min/mile – I was NOT feeling well that morning!

Tues: no run

Wed: 5 miles at 8:40 min/mile

Thurs: 3.1 miles at 8:20 min/mile

Fri: no run

Sat: 7.1 at 8:37 min/mile

The 7-miler was my scheduled long run this week (it was a low-mileage Kurtis week), and while it was scheduled for Sunday, I wanted to get it in on Saturday because Audrey & Caroline had their own races to run Sunday morning – Potomac River Running’s Mighty Mile Kids’ Race! They were both really excited for it, especially Audrey. Good thing I got that mileage in early since Sunday morning took an unexpected and unpleasant turn.

I woke up around 4:30am on Sunday with abdominal and pain on my right side. I thought I had pulled a muscle or something and tried to switch positions and go back to sleep. That did not work out very well – I could not find relief no matter what position I tried! I suffered alone for a while, but then I started getting nauseous and throwing up. I felt like maaaaybe I should wake Brian up, but I didn’t want to get him up so early! We are going through a bad sleeping spurt w/ the girls, and he is always up at the crack of dawn (or before). I didn’t want to be the cause of the early wakeup this time when we go to bed every night hoping that the next morning is the morning the girls sleep in! I couldn’t stand it anymore, though, so I woke up and told him what was going on. He said that I looked so pathetic that he couldn’t find it in his heart to be mad at me…ah, love. 🙂 We sat on the couch for a little while with me in fetal position before I decided I was going to try and get some sleep. I went back to bed and still couldn’t get any relief, and then I threw up again – all over the sheets. I called Brian in and he sat next to me for a while. Eventually it got bad enough that we decided to get the girls up and go to the ER, so the girls came along with their crazy bedhead and footie pajamas.

Long story short – after lots of time in the hospital, more throwing up, an IV, a urinalysis w/ elevated red blood cell count, bloodwork, and a CT scan, the diagnosis was a kidney stone. I actually passed it in the waiting room, and it wasn’t very long after that I felt way better. B told me he could tell when I was feeling better because I actually talked audibly instead of whispering and mumbling 😉 On our way out of the hospital, we spotted the Ft Belvoir Fisher House! I don’t really pay attention that much when leaving the hospital because usually I am driving chatty children home from doctor appointments, so this was maybe the second time I noticed it. I remember when they were building both FH and the hospital and that area was just a huge pile of dirt. So cool to see it up and running – and it is beautiful!

So, yeah. That was our “relaxing” Sunday morning! I have had two natural births (I call Audrey’s birth a “supernatural” birth), so I am not a wimp when it comes to pain – and that is what made B realize it was serious because I don’t cry wolf with things. If I complain, I am probably already way past being in normal pain and on my way towards excruciating pain, ha ha. And for the record, I prefer childbirth to kidney stones. At least with labor you can move around and ease the pain, contractions come in waves and aren’t constant, AND you get a sweet baby after.

The girls were angels during that whole 4 hours in the hospital, but Audrey was really sad to miss her race. I am doing a 4th of July 5K, so she gets to come run the fun run to make up for it!

Here’s to a better training week this week – it can’t get worse, right? I will leave you with pics of my sweet baby Bear (her older sister was pouting in the other room):

 

 

 

Here we go again

Marathon training season has started once again! It honestly doesn’t feel like it’s been a year since I started last year’s training cycle. I can’t decide how I feel about starting up again. On one hand, I was really itching to start a new training cycle because I wasn’t really thrilled with spring, but on the other hand, there goes my life for the next 4-5 months. What have I gotten myself into (again)?! The idea of not getting to sleep in until the end of October makes me want to cry! But let’s be honest – these days, “sleeping in” isn’t really sleeping in anyway.

I started off thinking that I wanted to try Hanson’s Marathon Method, and I even bought the book to read. It was really interesting and appealing, but in the end, I don’t have the time to dedicate to the higher weekly mileage. I kept thinking I could make it work, but the reality is that I probably can’t, especially with two nights of class in the fall. Someday I do want to try this method (if I keep running marathons…) but for now, it is too ambitious.

I came across Doug Kurtis’ marathon training plan in Runner’s World and was intrigued. He splits some of his long runs into two segments, one run earlier in the day and the other run at least three hours later. This doesn’t happen with all of the weekend long runs in this plan, and I thought it sounded like an interesting strategy. I also like that his intermediate plan included some speedwork, whereas Higdon’s (the one I followed last year) doesn’t. I penciled it into the planner next to the Higdon Intermediate mileage, and they are both similar enough that it made me feel like the Kurtis plan would prepare me for MCM and NYCM, but different enough that hopefully my interest stays piqued. The Kurtis plan has 6 days of running per week while Higdon has 5 and one day for cross-training (which, honestly, I used as an extra rest day last year). I also like their similarities because I feel like I can hybridize my plan by fusing them when I need to (if that makes sense). If I miss some mileage in the Kurtis plan during the week, maybe I can make up for it using the little bit of extra Higdon training mileage on the weekends. Flexibility is so important to me because marathon training is, oh, only about 5% of my life – mothering, working, military spousing (aka: Brian will be traveling at some points), & grad school take up the rest of it.

Kurtis’ plan is 20 weeks, so it already started. I hopped in at week 2, which was last week. I hit all my runs that week, hooray!!

S: 8 miles (8:45 min/mile pace)

M: 3 miles (8:39 min/mile)

T: 5 miles pace (8:18 min/mile – I used it to do 9×400 intervals at 5k pace w/ 1 mile warm-up, 1 mile cool-down, 1 min or so between intervals)

W: 5 miles (8:45 min/mile)

T: 3 miles (8:16 min/mile)

F: rest

Sat: 4 miles (8:34 min/mile)

I’ve already missed my long run for this week (9 miles) because I was out all afternoon on Sunday doing a home visit for class, but since it is so early in training and it’s a mileage I hit pretty regularly, I am not worried in the slightest!

And, just like last year, I am fundraising this year for Fisher House. If you remember, I was a Top 25 fundraiser last year thanks to all of your support!

Bring it on, MCM & NYCM! I will be ready for you (I think)!

 

Marine Corps Historic Half recap {5/18/14}

This was my 7th half marathon! After the end of May, I’ll have 8 under my belt. So crazy!

Marine Corps Historic Half was held in Fredericksburg, so Brian and I left Saturday morning to hit the expo and check into our hotel and then just enjoyed relaxing the rest of the day. Because this race is so hilly (definitely the hilliest I have run yet!), it was slated to be a fun race for me and Danny, and I think it delivered…well, at least until the end when a parking nightmare occurred!

This course was hard to pace and strategize for because even though it starts off as a net downhill, there are lots of hills along that net downhill (until the middle where it flattens a little). Then, it culminates at mile 10.5 with Hospital Hill and mile 11.5 with the I-95 bridge. Check out this elevation map! For me, it’s hard to really go all out when I don’t know the course well, and that was definitely in the back of my mind during this race.

 

We thought we’d have to hold back more at the beginning so that we could reserve some energy for the end, but that ended up not being a challenge since the beginning had some hills and slower people that helped pace us a little bit. We also decided not to focus on pace too much except to make sure we didn’t go out too fast. Since this wasn’t a goal race for either of us, we had that flexibility.

 

It was a beautiful day – slightly breezy and sunny. This is Fredericksburg’s version of the Boston Marathon, I think – in fact, the detour signs named it “Marathon Sunday,” even though there wasn’t an actual marathon distance race. So many people were out on the course to cheer, and since the course winds through some residential areas, you had people sitting in lawn chairs in PJs and drinking coffee while watching you run by. We ran through Central Park, through some neighborhoods, through Old Town (is that what it’s called?) Fredericksburg, along the Rappahanock River, and past Mary Washington Hospital (Hospital Hill at mile 10.5) before winding our way back to Central Park for the finish. It went pretty seamlessly until mile 9 when we were almost hit by some sort of pole at the mile marker. It fell down after we were literally one step past it – it was so close that other runners came up to say it was definitely our lucky day to have avoided that! Ironically, we were talking before the race about how it was nice to know that barring any sort of emergency, we’d finish no later than 2:05, even if we were just running easily; however, being hit by that pole would probably have counted as an emergency!

Our final time was 2:03, and here are splits according to RunKeeper – you can definitely see where the hills are (where we took it easy!)

Mile 1 – 9:07

Mile 2 – 8:52

Mile 3 – 8:56

Mile 4 – 8:51

Mile 5 – 8:54

Mile 6 – 9:01

Mile 7 – 9:21

Mile 8 – 8:38

Mile 9 – 9:09

Mile 10 – 9:15

Mile 11 – 10:36

Mile 12 – 10:18

Mile 13 – 8:45

This was a good race and I’m looking forward to tackling Hospital Hill more aggressively next year now that I know what it’s all about! Next up is VA Wine Country Half Marathon on May 31! This one will be all sorts of fun: hills, gravel, heat…WINE. 🙂

 

 

Nike Women’s Half Marathon recap {4/27/14}

This race last year was my PR half marathon race at 1:54 (official clock time = 1:55). That put a little bit of pressure on me to run another PR this time around but for many reasons, that didn’t happen. I have mixed feelings on not making it, but it really wasn’t my day, and when it all comes down to it, I am not as well prepared as I was last year. I’ve also been opting more to run pressure-free races because that is far more enjoyable. Then again, when I cross the finish line in a slower time than I’ve seen before, I am not always happy about it, so it’s a balance I am still working on.

Anyway, I LOVE this race. I think this may be my favorite DC race, and it’s only 2 years old! I had a wonderful experience at last year’s inaugural Nike Women’s 1/2 DC, and this year’s logistics and experience were even better. One thing that I didn’t like about last year’s race was that packet pick-up was in Georgetown only, and that is really inconvenient for a lot of people. Nike listened, though, and offered early packet pickup for locals at a few area running stores. This was so much better! Another complaint that I heard from people last year was that the course was so crowded. I didn’t really feel that as much because I was in the second pace corral (and not many were in the first) so we were towards the front, but the people behind were pretty bottle-necked. Nike fixed that, too, by using a wave start this year. They also cleaned up the finisher/celebration area and organized it better, and we got lots more goodies (awesome NWM water bottles that were pre-filled with water, huge bottles of chocolate milk, a goodie bag from Whole Foods, etc)…AND the necklace was a huge improvement over last year’s. I might actually wear mine this time around! AND Shalane Flanagan & Joan Benoit Samuelson opened the race AND ran it – this was less than a week after Boston. Bad ass.

The course itself was really fun and picturesque. The finish line photos with the Capitol in the background underscore that for sure.  I was so happy they revamped the course so that we weren’t hanging around so close to the finish line for 2-3 miles this year, unlike last year – that was torture! Instead, we did that part at the beginning of the race this year. Running through the tunnel at mile 1.5-2 was so fun and LOUD, especially with the drum band there. There was also a lit-up We Run DC sign there, and we got to run through the tunnel twice. The energy was crazy! I wish I had taken a picture, but I am not one of those people who can do that while running. The bands on the course were awesome (including Mason’s Green Machine right before Hains Point!), and little C LOVED the drum band at the finish line – spontaneous toddler dance party? Check!

There were two areas with HUGE TV screens that played personalized messages to you as you crossed a certain point. One was at the halfway mark and the other was at the 20K. It was so cool to see your name up there! There were Shot Blok stations, Luna bar stations, and even a Whole Foods chocolate stop at mile 11…I’m not sure who can eat chocolate at mile 11 of a half marathon when it isn’t next to a water station, but based on the wrappers on the ground, some people did! Nike really rolled out the red carpet for all of the runners. The spectators were awesome, too! There were even some on Hains Point which is so unusual.

I swiped some pictures from the Run Nike Women FB page because they did such a great job capturing some of the fun aspects of the race:

Start area

Tunnel

The fun tunnel sign

Tiffany necklace!

My race was not so pretty, but I tried to enjoy the atmosphere. I thought I had had enough bathroom trips prior to the start of the race (is 2 not enough?!) but ended up veering off at mile 3 to make another quick stop. At this point, I felt like my goal of PRing was gone, but I knew I would end up stopping at some point along the course, and since I was in Wave 1 and towards the front of the pack, I decided to stop when there were no lines. I was also fighting a sinus infection during the race (started w/ a sore throat that Friday night…), and breathing was tough (though definitely not as tough as running w/ bronchitis!) I started getting chills at mile 7 or 8, and ended up taking a walki break because it freaked me out. I didn’t know if it was from dehydration or being sick, but why play with fire? I texted Brian at that point (first time ever texting someone mid-race) to say I was really struggling and not feeling well, but he told me that I needed to get my butt to the finish because I had two sweet cheerleaders on their way! I made it a goal to run until water stops and then take as long of a walk break as needed. I should say I had an awful race, but once I accepted that a PR was not happening and decided instead to enjoy the race, I had a much better time. Final Garmin time was 2:04 and change. Maybe someday this season I will hit my sub-2 1/2 marathon again…if not, whatever! There is always next fall during marathon training! I have two more chances this spring, but they will be challenging halves!

Shalane & Joanie!

My view of the start

Coming in for the finish

with the little blue box

 

Sorry if this post is disjointed – it feels like it is to me, but I am still in my sinus infection-induced haze, so who knows! Long story short – I love this race, and can’t wait for next year’s!

Parkway Classic 10-Miler recap {4/13/14}

We had a really beautiful day for the 30th anniversary running of the Parkway Classic 10-Miler! Not quite as nice as last week’s Cherry Blossom 10-Miler (just because yesterday was a little too warm), but beautiful nonetheless. The perk of the weather was that it was completely unnecessary to layer for the wait at the start line.

Speaking of the start line, that was the only aspect of the race that left something to be desired. Last year’s start was flawlessly executed, and usually Pacers is so on top of their race game, but it was a bit wonky yesterday. This race is point-to-point starting at Mount Vernon, so racers had to be bused to the start line. Buses apparently ran late (we got there early), and a huge chunk of them arrived 5 minutes before the race was supposed to start. This delayed the start of the race by a few minutes which, in my mind, is not a big deal. However, because the buses were pulling into (and therefore blocking) the starting corrals, there were a good chunk of runners outside the corrals waiting for the buses to get through. Other runners were just cutting right in front of the buses and preventing their departure, and in retrospect, maybe that should have been what we did, too, but we were trying to be patient! We thought, “well, the race is already starting late, so they will DEFINITELY let all runners into the corrals before starting, right?” Wrong. They started the race abruptly and all of us on the outside were like, “uh, what?” and then came the mad dash to get into the corral. This resulted in us being in the 11-11:59 min/mile corral instead of the 8-8:59 min/mile corral (huge difference!), and definitely cost us some time in the first mile.

Anyway, the rest of the race was gorgeous, with a good chunk of it running right along the Potomac River. So pretty! There were tons of rolling hills which offered a little bit of a challenge, but they were totally manageable. The course flattened out around mile 6 and stayed pretty flat until miles 8-9. I think the biggest hills came in 8-9, actually. We ran a pretty strong, steady race, and we even negative split! I rarely do that, so that is an accomplishment. We also ran the last mile at 8:11, which was our fastest pace of the day – that is an accomplishment in itself! 

It started getting really warm in the last half of the race, and there wasn’t much shade cover. We haven’t trained for warm-weather runs yet, and this reminded me of the unpleasantness of summer marathon training. Blech. I ended up with some color on my face after this run!

Despite all of the weird hiccups (wonky start line, crazy heat, some hills), we finished in 1:28. Not a PR, but still a strong race! I was telling my running buddy, Danny, that I feel more unprepared this spring than last year (I got in way more training mileage last year!), so I would be happy to just finish strong, and I think we did!

 

Next up for me is Nike Women’s 1/2 Marathon (my current PR half marathon of just under 1:55) on Apr 27, which has been my “goal race” all season. The initial goal was to PR, but I’m not sure what my goal is now that I am farther into the training cycle. Maybe it will be just to run sub-2, maybe it will still be to PR…who knows!

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler recap {4/6/14}

Wow, what a beautiful spring morning for a 10-mile race in DC! This was the view that greeted me after getting off the Metro:

And this was the view that greeted all runners approaching the start line:

I ran this race last year & loved it, so, unlike the morning of Rock ‘n’ Roll USA 1/2 Marathon, I was really excited. This race has to be one of my favorites! There is nothing quite like running through DC, around monuments, the Tidal Basin, and the cherry blossoms to kick off the spring! I don’t think you can get any more quintessentially DC than this race.

My main goal for this race was to run a strong one. I only ran 5 miles last week because of a swollen foot arch, and a really tender/painful foot/ankle. I spent the week icing & resting, but had no idea what impact it would have on this race. After RnR USA, another goal was to fight through the whole thing, even if/when I wanted to stop. I am working on trying to build up my mental grit again. I definitely had it last year, but in my mind, I proved everything I set out to prove, so I sort of feel like I’ve lost some of the drive.

With all of that being said, I had a great race! There were definitely tough moments, but I pushed through and kept going. I am really happy with how I ran. It was about a minute shy of my PR (which was last year’s Cherry Blossom), but I am fine with it. I didn’t go out intending to PR, and all my 10-mile races have been within the same 1.5 minute time range, so I’m happy to be on par with last year. I was way more diligent with getting my miles in last year, whereas I look back at this training cycle and it feels so helter skelter to me!

I tried to run using Runners’ World’s Timeless Challenge, which implements zone (yellow, orange, red) running; I’m not sure that it worked for me this time, but I want to explore this further. It was a last minute decision for me to run this way, so maybe it would have worked out better if I’d had more mental preparation/practice. I went out too fast in this race because with your adrenaline pumping, it’s easy to feel like you’re running at a more leisurely pace (yellow zone) in the first few miles than you actually are. For me, I rely heavily on my GPS watch in the first few miles as a way to slow myself down. Without that, I basically sprinted the first 4 miles (um, 7:12 pace at mile 4?!), and then couldn’t really push myself into the red zone at the end. Also, Hain’s Point really zapped me of my energy this time around – ugh, such a hard, boring part of the course. Oh well – you live & learn!

Splits:

Mile 1 – 8:20 min/mile

Mile 2 – 8:17 min/mile

Mile 3 – 8:21 min/mile

Mile 4 – 7:12 min/mile (can that be right?!)

Mile 5 – 8:51 min/mile

Mile 6 – 8:32 min/mile

Mile 7 – 9:14 min/mile (leisurely water stop!)

Mile 8 – 8:56 min/mile

Mile 9 – 8:54 min/mile

Mile 10 – 8:41 min/mile

Final – 1:27:51

I love looking at the RunPix data for runs! Here are mine:

A fun perk at the end of this race was my friend (and bridesmaid!) Katelyn spotting me in the finisher area. Neither of us knew the other was going to be there, so it was unexpected and really great to see her. What are the chances?! Also – pink race shirts, woo!

Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Half Marathon Recap and Reflections {3/15/14}

Hmmm, how to start this…

This was my 5th half marathon, and I did not have a good time at this race. I simply did not want to be there and it showed in my time. I think this race came too soon after B got back, and all I wanted was to be at home with everyone. It is also not my favorite course or race, and it was a logistical pain in the butt for me. I was so paranoid about it that I woke up at 3:45am and ended up at the starting line 2 hours (!) before race time because of my fear of the huge crowds (there were 25,000 runners!) and not getting there on time. That, paired with an additional 20-25 minute wait to cross the start line (wave start), just added to my desire to be anywhere but there. I was over it before it even started. I even texted Brian before the start that I wanted to come home and didn’t want to race at all!

I started off the race trying to shake off my bad attitude, and even paced myself well for the first half. I held back at the start and forced myself to slow down after starting at 8:10 min/miles, and up until mile 7-8, I was averaging around 8:40-8:45 min/miles which I would have been thrilled with at the end. My heart and head were not in it, though, and by mile 5, I was ready to be finished. The huge hill of this course comes at mile 6 (exiting Rock Creek & heading into Georgetown), and then there was another sizable hill in mile 7, and I think those were the catalysts to my complete loss of interest in the race. I started alternating between walking & running at mile 9 (?) – even considered texting Brian to tell him how miserable I was, but refused to stoop that low (ha). If I had really pushed myself at mile 10, I still could have finished sub-2, but I just didn’t care enough to fight for it. Knowing it wasn’t my goal race did not help my apathy, either.

And guys – I DIDN’T EVEN SMILE FOR THE CAMERAS (well, most of them). YOU KNOW THIS WAS A BAD RACE WHEN I COULDN’T EVEN MANAGE THAT! I ran a 7-miler with BRONCHITIS and still smiled for all of the cameras! This was clearly dire 😉 .

My final time was 2:03:34. Despite my bad race, I still finished in the top third(ish) of all competitors, top 30% of age division, and top 26% of women so there’s that, I guess…

Splits:

5K = 27:45, 10K = 56:59, 10 miles = 1:32:58.

Something that Brian reminded me of when I got home was the difference in treadmill training vs. actually pounding the pavement, simply from an impact perspective. He asked me if my legs felt tired/sore earlier, and when I thought about it, they had. I noticed it during the race but didn’t really connect the dots. I’m sure it was because my training over the past 2-3 months has almost exclusively been on the treadmill (thank you weather + military life). Honestly, when I was sprinting to the finish of this race, my legs felt like they were sprinting to the finish of MCM (and they felt like I had just run a marathon for the rest of the day, too). I haven’t gotten any hill training in, and this race is pretty hilly in the second half. At least my days of single parenthood are over for a while and I can get outside for runs again – gotta get used to the pavement impact and hills again!

Another more sobering feeling that has been running through my mind (even prior to this race) is burn-out. I went all out last year in terms of my race schedule, and while it was rewarding, it was also exhausting. I have a packed spring race schedule this year, too, but I’m not sure if my desire to push myself is there. I am prepared to run them, but I almost want to run them for FUN, not for time. At the same time, though, I know that my very competitive nature will be annoyed if I don’t meet time goals. UGH, such a catch-22. But isn’t running supposed to be fun?! I’ve lost that feeling lately. Waking up at 5am to squeeze runs in isn’t fun. Running on the treadmill isn’t fun. Feeling like I don’t have a spare minute in my day isn’t fun. Hopefully these feelings improve now that Brian is back and I have room to breathe again, but I guess time will tell. I’m not really sure what the solution is, but I’m trying to incorporate more cross-training just to give myself a break.

And in HAPPY news, GO HOOS! It was so fun to watch the ACC Tournament this weekend, especially because we are not used to being on the winning side! Caroline wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but she cheered along saying, “GO, HOOS, GO! HURRY, HURRY, HURRY!” in her sweet little baby voice!